Spartacus Star Lucy Lawless is Back With a Vengeance

Does she have her own private wi-fi connection to the gods? Tonight's episode of Spartacus: Vengeance finds Lucy Lawless' character, Lucretia, being treated like a superstar by the citizens of Capua. They believe she's divinely blessed — how else to explain her narrow escape from death during the bloody slave revolt? — and that she can tap into the wisdom of Mount Olympus. It sure seems that way. Before long, Lucretia starts spouting prophecy.

"She's no Tim Tebow," says Lawless. "Lucretia does not believe the gods are sticking their fingers in her personal business, but she is a widow with no means of support who is surrounded by enemies and desperate for survival. So she works it." And eventually that'll pay off — big time. "By the end of the season, Lucretia will get a new man," Lawless reveals. "In fact, after much tribulation, all her dreams will come true. All of them."

Lawless is also doing well in the dream department. Spartacus, shot in her homeland of New Zealand, has finally brought her serious acclaim as an actress, plus another juicy gig — she's joining the killer cast (Holly Hunter, Elisabeth Moss) of the BBC miniseries Top of the Lake, directed by Oscar winner Jane Campion. But it wasn't too long ago that Lawless was living in L.A. in a post-Xena funk. She and her best pal, Tony-winning actress Marissa Jaret Winokur, "would go to the shopping mall and sit in the vibrating chairs at the Brookstone store, stuffing ourselves with muffins and crying about our s---ty careers," recalls Lawless with a laugh. "I had to move back home to become successful again!"